Hmm lets see what the difference is...Pavlik tried to get a fight with Calzaghe it was rejected, Pavlik tried to get a fight with Abraham OMMM NO thank...He THEN turns to Hopkins. Calzaghe "I wouldnt fight Jones at this point, oh wait you mean I can fight Jones, OK sign me up." Jones was the fight that Joe was looking for, that is the point, he wasnt looking to fight Dawson or Bute and fell back on a fight with Jones...Its not even close to being the same:bbb
Hopkins was just beaten by Calzaghe. Pavlik wanted the Calzaghe fight because neither are past it like Jones and to a much lesser extent Hopkins. If you followed boxing, you would know that Pavlik took his best remaining option.
Pavlik's a nice young man from the midwest who's done very well for himself so far. In dissing Joe for fighting an old man, and then fighting an even older man himself, he may appear to be a tad precious. But in the fight game, this kind of rhetoric gets tossed around all the time. It adds to the drama when the fight eventually gets made. (I'll never lose to a white boy ! I'll never lose to another white boy ?) So don't all of you get your knickers in a twist. JC /Pavlik will probably eventually happen, if Joe gets past Roy....... ....and if Kelly gets past Bernard. Kelly needs to focus on the BHop fight. Just because Calzaghe beat him doesn't mean Pavlik can. Frankly, Kelly is not as good as Joe. IF the fight goes the distance, I would pick BHop to pull off the uset as I did when he faced Tarver. It'll be an interesting Autumn.
This has been beat to death. Look it up. Only certain fighters available and of those, some backed out and HBO wouldn't pay for the rest. Read some of the threads.
Ducked !? no took another option yes .. Kind of hard to duck someone who is two weight classes behind you..
not really ducked seem to be the buzz word on this site weather it fit the situation or not .. Ducked to me is when you chose to not to fight your number 1 mandatories .. Floyd Patterson (the champion) avoiding his mandatory against the number 1 contender in Sonny Liston , is my definition of Ducking. As a Lt Heavy (Champion ) Joe responsibility is to defend his Lt Heavy weight title against the best in Lt Heavy weight class, last I check Pavlic is not a Lt Heavy , so that make Pavlic a option not a mandatory, so the word ducking doesn't really apply .. PS Im not a Joe fan. So is it safe to say Pavlic is ducking Abraham ? just asking ..
B hop is not Calzaghe's toughest opponent to date...he just fights in a style that turns every fight into a stinker!! He's the John Ruiz of the Light-Heavy division!! Kessler is a far more dangerous opponent for Kelly the ghost!! With Kelly's chin, i wouldn't doubt it if Jeff Lacy knocked him out...I think everyone forgets about the 2nd round with Jermaine Taylor...that fight could have easily been stopped with any other ref!!
Speaking of ridiculous quotes, here's a couple now! "Roy Jones WAS a great fighter. He's not a great fighter now." "I have no interest in being the 3rd person to knock Roy Jones out." Slappy Joe